The LAUSD School Board includes former teachers and school administrators. A student representative is also included in an advisory role. However, not one of the seven Board members has a child who is currently enrolled in the District. With this lack of representation is it a surprise that too many parents feel that they do not have a voice in how the District operates?

Was it making a 3 dimensional map with mountains, or a school Olympics, or putting on a play, or sewing a frontier outfit, or classroom discussions, or many other things? Maybe it was May Day dances or working with tools.

Add a lawsuit here, a lawsuit there, paying a former superintendent or two, a wasted program or 100, a superfluous bureaucracy, plus the money for the worthless tests and the test preparation materials that do nothing but enrich the publishers.

Principals can load up classes with the most difficult and lowest performing students.

Principals can change the teacher’s assignment even though in LAUSD assignments are supposed to be selected by seniority. The on site union representative is most unlikely to stand up for a teacher fearing the above negative treatment. Calling the union is totally fruitless as the union leaders are most concerned about spending the dues and maintaining their perks, privileges, and pensions just like the LAUSD downtown bureaucracy that they totally mirror.

This has been going on forever.

The Kingdom of LAUSD—a top down pyramid (empire) with the serfs—teachers--at the absolute bottom of the pyramid.

Ms. García has been on the LAUSD Board for ten years and she says that our kids still can’t read? It is time for a change! I am a father of five who has fought the LAUSD to get my two daughters the special education services they needed. Now I fight for ALL KIDS:

The LAUSD School Board needs a parent's perspective. None of the current Board members has a child enrolled in the District. I am a father of five who has fought the LAUSD to get my children the services that they needed. Now I want to fight for ALL KIDS.

Our children are not widgets in an education factory.The District must provide opportunities to all students, not just those who are college-bound. I’ll fight for music and the arts, special ed centers, vocational training, and the right to opt-out of standardized testing.

When I was a student in LAUSD the major fund raising effort was a newspaper drive. We’d collect them at the school and they were picked up.

Today, most public schools have booster clubs run by active parents. The fund raising activities include donations, gift wrap sales, candy sales, auctions, restaurant outings, and many other things.

The money raised goes to supplement the money provided by the District/State and to enrichment activities. The funds buy computers, books, aides, music instruction, photocopiers, office clerks, librarians, and so much more.

Why? Other than enrichment activities, so many of the above including librarians and clerical help are an integral part of the schools and their programs.

Why do the booster organizations have to pay for so much? What if your school is not located in a community that can financially support the school? What if your school does not have low test scores and therefore is not entitled to federal funds?

Three times each school year, LAUSD elementary teachers must give the DIBELS to every student.

The teacher must sit in the back of or on the side of the classroom with each student for 15 to 20 minutes. The students read to the teacher while the teacher follows on a computer. In Kindergarten the students identify letters.

While the teacher is working with each student individually the other students must work without teacher assistance. Some elementary classes have 35 students. Think about the time lost to the class while the teachers must give this superfluous test. Think about Kindergarteners needing their teachers.

The DIBELS like all the other tests costs money that could go to instructional materials, reducing class sizes, and repairs.